NFL

4 NFL FanDuel Stacks for Week 15

After two straight stinkers, can you trust using Kirk Cousins in a stack against Miami in Week 15?

If you're new to daily fantasy football, then you'll have to make some changes to your fantasy football strategy. You don't have "your guys" on a weekly basis -- and you need to adjust to each and every matchup.

A big part of building your roster is weekly quarterback selection. In terms of salary, passers range from the top of the player pool to the bottom, with some replacement-level passers sitting at the same price point as kickers and defenses on FanDuel.

Along with those quarterbacks, though, you have the option of pairing pass-catchers with your signal caller, and per 4for4, a quarterback's top receiver has the strongest positive correlation to quarterback success -- while his tight end and second receiver are next in line.

If you're going to stack, though, you need to have a purpose. If you're trying to win a big tournament, you'll want to find a combination that can put up points in bunches -- especially if that also comes with low ownership percentages. Who fits that mold in Week 15?

New England Patriots

Tom Brady ($7,900)
Rob Gronkowski ($6,900)

Tom Brady may not be having a banner year in fantasy, but he showed last week that the tournament-winning upside is still very much intact, slinging it for 358 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Dolphins on his way to 26.62 FanDuel points and a spot on Week 14's FanDuel perfect lineup. Prior to that performance, Brady hasn't hit 20 FanDuel points in five straight games.

As you've likely heard by now, the Patriots-Steelers game not only has the highest total on the slate (52.0), but no other over/under even hits the 48.0-point mark. On paper at least, this is the lone game that's likely to turn into a shootout, so between that and Brady's fantastic performance last week, Tom Terrific and the Pats won't be sneaking up on anyone in Week 15. New England also has the highest implied total on the board (27.25).

Still, given the overall lack of exciting spots, and the fact we have a slightly smaller 11-game main slate with two additional island games being played on Saturday, we shouldn't let the Patriots' potential high ownership push us away in tournaments. The Steelers aren't a shoddy defense by any means, ranking 15th against the pass by numberFire's schedule-adjusted metrics, but this also isn't a matchup we need to run away from. Furthermore, Brady still priced affordably as well and checks in as numberFire's top-projected value of the slate.

Julian Edelman ($7,200) should be a popular stacking choice, and rightfully so given his affordable price tag and 25.0% target market share over the last three games following the Pats' bye week.

But Rob Gronkowski is also a strong choice, and his ownership may not get out of hand even coming off a season-high 20.7 FanDuel points, as George Kittle ($7,400) will draw plenty of eyeballs after his ridiculous Week 14 performance (30.5 points) and Eric Ebron ($6,500) remains too cheap. Gronk also draws a favorable matchup against Pittsburgh, as the Steelers have allowed the fourth-most FanDuel points per game to tight ends and ranks 25th in Success Rate allowed to the position, per numberFire's Brandon Gdula.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Ben Roethlisberger ($8,600)
Antonio Brown ($8,600)

Look, all of the Steelers' top options should be extremely popular given the nature of this slate, but they still deserve a mention because there are so many different directions you can go here, particularly if you're making multiple lineups. Pittsburgh is averaging the most pass attempts per game (43.1) and highest passing percentage in the league (67.2%), so with Ben Roethlisberger back in the confines of Heinz Field on the highest projected game on the slate, you can bet we want some exposure to this spot.

While there's still a slight chance James Conner could return this week, Jaylen Samuels ($5,500) is expected to be the lead back again and should once again be highly-owned as one of the board's top value plays. JuJu Smith-Schuster ($7,800) has scored 29 or more FanDuel points in two of the last three games and leads the league red zone targets, so he will surely draw a lot of attention as well and won't be hard to fit in at this salary.

Meanwhile, Antonio Brown is the slate's second-most expensive wide receiver and put up a dud last week, catching 5-of-7 targets for just 35 yards. This isn't to say Brown will be low-owned in the grand scheme of things, but he and Big Ben, the slate's most expensive quarterback, will cost a good chunk of change together, potentially forcing more people to gravitate towards Samuels and Smith-Schuster. But even as JuJu continues to infringe on Brown's territory as the top dog on this offense, it's not like Brown hasn't shown his usual volume and upside this year, averaging 11.0 targets per game, while posting over 18 FanDuel points in seven games with a season-high of 26.4 points.

Seeing as this offense isn't going to go overlooked, you'll want to differentiate other parts of your lineup in tournaments, but you're going to want plenty of exposure to this spot and a game stack with the Patriots is definitely on the table.

Minnesota Vikings

Kirk Cousins ($7,800)
Stefon Diggs ($7,700)

The Vikings put on a truly pathetic offensive display on the road against the Seahawks on Monday Night Football, with their only score being a garbage-time touchdown with a minute left in the game. Kirk Cousins completed 20-of-33 passes for just 203 yards and that score, as he's continued to put up inconsistent numbers from week to week.

With Minnesota underwhelming on offense all season, that last clunker was evidently the final straw, as they fired offensive coordinator John DeFilippo after the game, and quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski will call the plays moving forward. While that move alone doesn't necessarily mean things will turn around overnight, the Dolphins provide a fantastic opponent for a bounce-back performance.

Miami ranks just 29th against the pass by numberFire's metrics, and let's not forget this is the very team that Tom Brady just torched last week. And for all of Cousins' disappointments this year, he's also had his share of shining moments, too, posting over 27 FanDuel points three times, including two 400-yard passing days.

As usual, both Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs ($7,700) make for excellent stacking options for Cousins, with the duo easily leading the team in target market share, showing marks of 27.8% and 24.5%, respectively. Thielen hasn't put up big numbers lately, scoring under 13 FanDuel points in four of the last five games, but given that he remains cheaper than he's been for much of the year, he figures to still see some ownership in the plus matchup.

Therefore, in tournaments it's not a bad idea to roll with Diggs instead, who won't have to contend with Xavien Howard (doubtful) and should instead draw coverage from rookie Minkah Fitzpatrick. The improved matchup makes Diggs an intriguing pivot away from JuJu Smith-Schuster at almost the exact same salary. Diggs may not have the consistent results of Thielen, but the ceiling is undeniable, including a season-high 31.4 FanDuel points in Week 2 versus the Packers.

San Francisco 49ers

Nick Mullens ($6,600)
George Kittle ($7,400)

Nick Mullens has now thrown 414 and 332 passing yards the last two games, along with a pair of touchdowns in each, which certainly piques our interest at his modest salary. And as it turns out, that 400-yard came on the road against the Seahawks, which just happens to be Mullens' opponent this week. In fact, prior to the Vikings face-planting on Monday, Seattle's defense had allowed 300 yards passing and/or multiple touchdowns to six straight quarterbacks.

The San Francisco 49ers are at home this time, but with only a 20.25 implied total, Mullens isn't exactly cash game material. Still, considering he's now racked up 19-plus FanDuel points in three of five starts, he's worth a look in tournaments and has a clear stacking partner in George Kittle.

Kittle should be popular after his crazy Week 14, but with both Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz off the slate, he has limited competition at the shallow tight end position. In Mullens' five starts, Kittle's target market share (27.7%) towers over all other 49ers pass-catchers, and we've already witnessed the upside he can brings. Kittle leads all tight ends and wideouts in yards after the catch (578) this year, and while it might feel like chasing points, we have to like the ceiling of this pairing at a modest combined price.


Kenyatta Storin is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Kenyatta Storin also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username yatters. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.